Oxford and Its Story

by Cecil Headlam

Oxford Castle (Photogravure)	Facing page	[ Frontispiece]
TINTED LITHOGRAPHS
Magdalen Tower from the Water Walks	Facing page	[4]
Christ Church	“	[20]
Cornmarket Street	“	[26]
Entrance Front, Pembroke College	“	[46]
Archway and Turret, Merton College	“	[62]
University College	“	[78]
Garden Front, S. John’s College	“	[90]
Wadham College, from the Gardens	“	[104]
Oriel College and Merton Tower	“	[122]
Balliol College	“	[130]
S. Mary’s Porch	“	[148]
S. Alban Hall, Merton College	“	[174]
Quadrangle, Brasenose College	“	[202]
Bell Tower and Cloisters, New College	“	[220]
The Founder’s Tower, Magdalen College	“	[230]
Front Quadrangle, Corpus Christi College	“	[250]
Cloisters, Christ Church	“	[262]
Grammar Hall, Magdalen College	“	[274]
President’s Lodge, Trinity College	“	[286]
Quadrangle, Jesus College	“	[294]
The Gardens, Exeter College	“	[302]
Oriel Window, S. John’s College	“	[308]
The Cloisters, New College	“	[330]
Quadrangle and Library, All Souls’ College	“	[340]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
Oxford Cathedral (Interior)	Facing [8]
Oxford Cathedral (Exterior)	[13]
Hall Stairway, Christ Church	[17]
Abingdon Abbey	[24]
The Bastion and Ramparts in New College	Facing [30]
City Walls	[31]
Chapel of Our Lady	[32]
Bird’s-eye View of Oxford (1578)	Facing [32]
Oxford Castle	[35]
S. Peter’s in the East	Facing [42]
The “Bishop’s Palace,” S. Aldate’s	[50]
The Radcliffe Library, from Brasenose College	[85]
Gables in Worcester College	[103]
Gateway, Worcester Gardens	[106]
Oriel College	Facing [108]
Doorway, Rewley Abbey	[109]
Old Gateway, Merton College	[117]
Monastic Buildings, Worcester College	[127]
Oriel Window, Lincoln College	[147]
The High Street	[151]
S. Mary’s Spire from Grove Lane	[155]
Gables and Tower, Magdalen College	[195]
Open Air Pulpit, Magdalen College	[199]
Magdalen College	Facing [210]
In New College	[223]
Kemp Hall	Facing [228]
Magdalen Bridge and Tower	[233]
Niche and Sundial, Corpus Christi College	[248]
South View of Bocardo	[281]
Chapel in Jesus	[298]
Cooks Buildings, S. John’s	Facing [300]
From the High Street	[314]
Courtyard to Palace	Facing [320]
View from the Sheldonian Theatre	[337]
Oriel Window, Queen’s Lane	[342]

OXFORD & ITS STORY

CHAPTER I
S. FRIDESWIDE AND THE CATHEDRAL

“He that hath Oxford seen, for beauty, grace
And healthiness, ne’er saw a better place.
If God Himself on earth abode would make
He Oxford, sure, would for His dwelling take.”
Dan Rogers,
Clerk to the Council of Queen Elizabeth.

“Vetera majestas quædam et (ut sic dixerim) religio commendat.”
Quintilian.

IT is with cities as with men. The manner of our meeting some men, and the moment, impress them upon our minds beyond the ordinary. And the chance of our approach to a city is full also of significance. London approached by the Thames on an ocean-going steamer is resonant of the romance of commerce, and the smoke-haze from her factories hangs about her like folds of the imperial purple. But approach her by rail and it is a tale of mean streets that you read, a tale made yet more sad by the sight of the pale, drawn faces of her street-bred people. Calcutta is the London of the East, but Venice, whether you view her first from the sea, enthroned on the Adriatic, or step at dawn from the train into the silent gondola, is always different yet ever the same, the Enchanted City, Queen of the Seas. And many other ports there are which live in the memory by virtue of the beauty of the approach to them: Lisbon, with the scar of her earthquake across her face, looking upon the full broad tide of the Tagus, from the vantage ground of her seven hills; Cadiz, lying in the sea like a silver cup embossed with a thousand watch towers; Naples, the Siren City; Sidney and Constantinople; Hong-Kong and, above all, Rio de Janeiro. But among inland towns I know none that can surpass Oxford in the beauty of its approach.

Beautiful as youth and venerable as age, she lies in a purple cup of the low hills, and the water-meads of Isis and the gentle slopes beyond are besprent with her grey “steeple towers, and spires whose silent finger points to heaven.” And all around her the country is a harmony in green—the deep, cool greens of the lush grass, the green of famous woods, the soft, juicy landscapes of the Thames Valley.